The EU was founded after the Second World War. Right from the start it was complicated and every few years changes were made and more bits added. This is the nature of the EU.
The EU was established with the intention to make Europe a safer more prosperous place. The founders wanted to avoid any more wars happening in Europe.
The need for stability
an obvious need for stability and long lasting peace. European countries and cities had been badly damaged. The founders of the EU wanted to make sure this couldn’t happen again, They also wanted to make sure that Germany and France would never go to war again.
The leaders of Europe after WWII were aware that the Versailles Treaty had been too harsh on Germany and that the demand for high war reparations had been part of the cause of the second world war. This time they wanted to make sure that Germany would recover fully and be a part of a prosperous Europe.
The Cold War
Just after the end of WWII the Cold War emerged. The continent had ended up divided between the Allies and Soviet Russia. America in particular was very worried that Soviet Communist influence would spread.
The USA took action to prevent the spread of communism in Europe. After WWII many people in Europe were very disillusioned with the system of government they had before the war, many people were looking for something new.
In Italy and France communist parties were winning seats. Berlin was a divided city cut off from the rest of Germany and dependant on the western powers for its survival.
The American government decided that helping Europe to recover from the war as quickly as possible was the best way to preserve peace and to prevent too many countries turning to communism and so they started to give aid to European countries to help to rebuild. This was called the Marshal Plan.
The Marshal Plan
After the second World War Europe was in a very bad condition. Cities had been destroyed and there were even food shortages. The Americans decided to help Europe to rebuild. This was called the Marshal Plan.
General Marshal was sent to Europe to help rebuild it after the destruction of WW!!.
He set about giving large donations to various European Governments. However, he made a condition – if they wanted any financial aid from the USA they had to cooperate and work together. This was one of the factors that lead to the founding of the EU.
Founders of the EU
There were several people involved in setting up the EU. the most famous of these are Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman.
There were several people involved in setting up the EU. the most famous of these are Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman.
The picture shows Jean Monnet on your left and Robert Schuman on your right.
Jean Monnet was a French civil servant who had the idea to combine the coal and steel industries.
Robert Schuman was a French politician. He presented these ideas on the 9th of May 1950 as the Schuman Declaration which later became known as the Schuman plan.
See here for the full text of the Schuman Declaration
The ECSC
The European Coal and Steel Community was the first stage of the development of the EU. This is considered to be the first of the founding treaties of the EU although the treaty regarded as being the beginning of the EU is the Treaty of Rome signed in 1957.
The European Coal and Steel Community was the first stage of the development of the EU. This is considered to be the first of the founding treaties of the EU.
The ECSC was a treaty between governments to combine and share control over the industries of coal and steel production.
These were considered to be the industries of war – if these were shared then no-one could start to prepare for war without the others knowing about it.
These were also two of the most important industries in Europe and by combining and sharing control of these industries the governments were also sharing benefits rather than competing against each other. They were now competing against the rest of the world but together.
The First EU Treaty
The EU as we know it today began with the signing of two treaties in 1957. These are known as the Treaties if Rome. Over the following years many more treaties were signed.
The EU is built on a series of treaties. These are agreements between countries to cooperate. The Treaties are known by the name of the place they are signed in as well.
The very first treaties was the Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community. Then the Treaties of Rome were signed in 1957, generally regarded as the first of the EU treaties. The SEA was signed in 1986. Then the TUE Maastricht Treaty in 1992, Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997, the Nice Treaty in 2001 and the Lisbon Treaty in 2007.
See here for more detail about the treaties.
